Somali pirates hijack ship with Sri Lankan crew onboard

Pirates in Somalia have hijacked an oil tanker with eight Sri Lankan crew onboard, the first time they have successfully taken a commercial ship since 2012.

Mohamud Ahmed Eynab, district commissioner for Alula town in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said on Tuesday that a day earlier “the pirates hijacked the oil tanker and they brought it near Alula”.

A local elder, Salad Nur, told AP news agency by phone “more armed men boarded the ship”, saying young local fishermen, including former pirates, hijacked the ship.

“They have been sailing through the ocean in search for a foreign ship to hijack since yesterday morning and found this ship and boarded it,” Nur said.

“Foreign fishermen destroyed their livelihoods and deprived them of proper fishing.”